Reyes Keeps Bringing It in Rehab Starts, Should Be in MLB Rotation Soon Says Analyst

By Luke Schnake May 15, 2018 3:17 pm

It looks like the Cardinals will re-unleash one of their favorite minor league toys in late May with Alex Reyes’s return to the MLB roster. Reyes has shone bright in two Class A rehab starts the past week: a 3 1/3-inning scoreless campaign for Palm Beach, followed by an 80-pitch, 12 strikeout outing Monday in Peoria.

Signs point to the top prospect’s MLB reemergence soon according to MLB Network Radio’s Craig Mish, who took in Reyes’s Palm Beach start and recently shared his thoughts with ‘The Fast Lane.’

“He was very upset when he made mistakes, which is really good to see. Again, this was against a high-A team in Jupiter and I thought that the emotions were good,” Mish said. “The body language was good. Not being an expert at pitching, I thought it was a success.”

Reyes’s arm is also good if Monday’s Peoria start is any indication, as the righty touched 100 mph on the gun and logged just one less K than his professional high of 13 back in 2015 with Palm Beach. All signs currently point to a successful MLB reintroduction with Reyes attempting to pick up where he left off before his 2017 Tommy John surgery. It’s also an opportunity to live up to the hype he started when upon his first St. Louis stints.

“You look at the Cardinals rotation, and I can make the case that Reyes is definitely their second best pitcher. So, how can you make the case of starting three or four guys ahead of him when you know he’s the most talented or second most talented?” Mish said.

“My guess is from June on, you will see him and provided the Cardinals are in the playoff push, and it does certainly seem like they will be, you’ll see him also all the way hopefully through September.”

Which leads us to how the Cardinals will manage the 23-year-old’s innings throughout this season, especially given how large a part Reyes figures into their future. Mish figures that question gets answered as the season unfolds.

“I’m going to guess that when he joins the big league club at the end of the month we’ll all have a much better idea as to what the innings limit is,” Mish said. “The Cardinals have been pretty transparent with that. They’ll pretty much tell you that.

“They can also manage those innings during the season. They can give him a start and take him out after five innings frequently if they choose to do it that way. My guess is we will get a little bit better idea of that in a few weeks when he comes up.”

You can catch Mish’s full 101ESPN chat below. Stay tuned to 101ESPN and 101Sports.com for plenty of Cardinals coverage and analysis.